Everybody’s Got a Bomb

I went from pariah to popular kid in my college dorm hours after acquiring 1999 on October 27, 1982.  Few of my peers appreciated my compulsion to blast current albums- the Clash’s Combat Rock, the Gap Band’s IV and Steel Pulse’s True Democracy were in heavy rotation- at the start of the fall semester.  Prince’s instant classic made my cinderblock room with the dorm’s loudest stereo a hub for teenagers of multiple races, nationalities and sexual orientations.  Everyone loved 1999.

Wading through the five-hour-and-53-minute sprawl of the new Super Deluxe Edition of 1999 incites déjà vu.  We’d listen to all four sides of the album for hours on end during weekend dorm parties.  The bacchanal genius would have approved of the D.M.S.R. he instigated.

Almost all contemporary pop music contains echoes of 1999, so it’s difficult to appreciate how bracingly innovative Prince’s unifying funk sounded 37 years ago.  I’ve been startled anew by the freshness of a few of the tracks on the box set.  For instance, “Purple Music” sounds like Thundercat’s next single.  I’ve long believed Fulfillingness’ First Finale was the album that had the most profound impact on my life.  It’s time to amend that declaration.  If Stevie Wonder informed my childhood, Prince redirected my second decade with 1999.


---
My latest concert previews for The Kansas City Star include shows by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Kitten.

---
I was put on the hot seat by Steve Kraske for 30 excruciating minutes on KCUR’s Up To Date.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)